Law creates website to track federal spending

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as americans we pay into a government checkbook that we have little access to when it comes to finding out to whom the government is writing checks. a new bill signed into law this week hopes to change that. the federal funding accountability and transparency act mandates that a website be set up that will show us some of the checks our government writes for projects.

as president bush said yesterday morning when he was signing the bill into law:

the website will allow our citizens to go online, type in the name of any company, association, or state or locality and find out exactly what grants and contracts they've been awarded. it will allow citizens to call up the name and location of entities receiving federal funds, and will provide them with the purpose of the funding, the amount of money provided, the agency providing the funding and other relevant information.

more specifically, all government grants and contracts greater than us$25,000 will be displayed on the website, with the exception of those remaining classified for national security reasons. the act brings to light pet projects that are at times thrown into bills at the last moment. in addition to the new law, the house of representatives has also enacted a rule change that forces the sponsor of each project to be disclosed before a vote.

this new website is in addition to an existing website called expectmore.gov, which allows citizens to track grants to determine if results are being met for programs.

brian's opinion
putting access to public government information on the internet is never a bad idea. one of the most ridiculous acts of our government is the awarding of grants for everything under the sun while in the next breath complaining about how much the government spends and why tax rates need to go back up. now lawmakers will be on notice that their little pet projects are going to get listed and be available for access to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. i think it will make for some interesting reading once this new website is up, and i think some lawmakers will find themselves embarrassed by some of the grants that have been passed in their names.

i don't disagree with the notion that a senator or a representative shouldn't do what's in the best interest for his or her community; i just draw the line at grants for the rock and roll hall of fame and other grants like it that are just ridiculous when we are talking about overspending and the consequent need to increase taxes to make up for it.

user comments 18 comment(s)

not really(3:47pm est wed sep 27 2006)citizens may see the individual transactions going out, but they will never know a “total sum” to balance against. they may have money going out all over the place and just not document it. good effort, but easily circumvented if desired. – by bp

more money(5:28pm est wed sep 27 2006)who gets the grant to run this website? more money down the drain. – by nobody

not possible !!!(8:02pm est wed sep 27 2006)

if it's all posted, then we'd have a direct look into black box spending.

that will never happen.

what is spent on secret r&d is a gigantic amount.

there's no way we'd ever get on that side of the looking glass.

this is just a pre-election dog and pony show. or, in cowboy talk, “bull shit”.

– by the woz

transparent(10:09pm est wed sep 27 2006) we will have to wait, and see. it's still too early to judge whether it will be as promised.

in a year or so, i hope that geek.com comes back and then rates the web site, and then i will throw my 2 cents in herein commenting about that web site.– by human

a farse(12:05am est thu sep 28 2006)this is just for those who actually think the govt will tell us what they are actually giving. proably the same info you can seek out anyway.

the stuff they don't want you to see? guess what, you're still not going to see it.

i guess it's a nice idea to have it all in one easy access place. i can only see new's portals, other companies, and conspiracy freaks really taking advantage of it though. – by brotherwitch

test(5:15am est thu sep 28 2006)my posts don't post – by ironsmith

i have an idea(5:29am est thu sep 28 2006)when for some reason the posts are not accepted geek.com can at least say why. – by ironsmith

great but…(5:30am est thu sep 28 2006)but i agree the system needs $dollar values$ and a 3rd party rating system along with options for citizens to post opinions about the programs.

there certainly are a lot of pet projects to scan through and it is shocking how many don't even effect me or in fact hurt me.

i don't mind the black-helicopter-military-conspiracy crap, what i find dangerous is the number of welfare-state programs and the shier amount of money mostly wasted costing much more than any war and with no end in sight. forget about the war in iraq. if you want to save some money withdraw the welfare funding not the troops.

if we make poverty painless we will lack the required strength to overcome it. -francis edward smith

mitt romney for president 2008 – by ironsmith

ps(5:35am est thu sep 28 2006)i have found that the word so-cial-ist is an unacceptable term @geek.com – by ironsmith

hahah!(6:00am est thu sep 28 2006)it is!! rofl!

well, i guess i was typing one of those words when i tried to provide some insider knowledge to the bit about marriot letting you check in via cell phones and such. i work for hilton, and i had something to contribute, but it never let me post.

i just tried to type so-cial-ist and nothign else in a post, and guess what? i didn't post! thats funny.

rick geek, explain why i can say bitch, ass, shit, whore, and whatever, but not so-cial-ist? – by brotherwitch

good (8:31am est thu sep 28 2006)forget the rock&roll hall of fame. the website is nice eye candy but they should have one for the 24 trillion plus that needs to be repatriated with the us tresuary.that would be a great website listing all the entities and corporations operating under the executive order 12333 (1981) issued by president reagan. the us intelligence services were authorised to operate what became known as title 18, section 6 usg corporations for intelligence purposes, and to deny any intelligence community connection (that is, to lie about their real purpose).give us a website showing the finanial statements of those slush funds and espcially those individuals who have control over them. – by l wanta

expenses(12:21pm est thu sep 28 2006)1) iraq: $400 billion (still not done) note – it took us 4 years to win wwii. why can't we wrap up a little piss-ant country like iraq in less? get ready to spend a lot more $$$.

2) everything else: ~$0. we can cut silly things like veteran's funds, endowments for the arts, environmental efforts, poor people – by citizen

$24,999(2:42pm est thu sep 28 2006)heh. you know what this means don't you? lots & lots of funding will now be going out in $24,999 payments, heh heh. -wink- – by wink

citizen(2:27am est fri sep 29 2006)i hope you were joking. we wouldn't have won wwii or wwi or any war if not for our veterans.

lets give them the welfare money.

if you were serious, you shoudl be ashamed of yourself, and move back to whatever country you came from. – by brotherwitch

huh(9:34am est fri sep 29 2006)area 51 exists. why not tell us what the hell they are doing over there. probably dumping toxic waste under nevada. probably these ppl in government dont even know what the hell the millitary is doing. ppl are ppl and cant be trusted. – by bla

re:citizen(9:40am est fri sep 29 2006)the problem is with the way the magority of muslims think. in iraq a boy who was raped was murdered by the mother because he brought shame to the family. this is because of religeon and tradition. shiites & sunni's & kurds are muslims but enemies as well. you have syrians,lebanese,jordanians,iranies,pakastanies all comming into iraq and fighting each other and also u.s army. these ppl only care about is raping and keeping their sick honor. what do you expect when ppl look up to and respect muhammad the raping and genocidal maniac. if i started a new religeon and chose hitler & starlin as my prophets ppl would not have it. – by bla

re: brotherwitch(2:41pm est fri sep 29 2006)that was sarcasm. i was saying what i could imagine 'w' saying about where money goes – i.e. iraq and not to the needy in the us.